India wants to give women 1/3 of legislative seats

(March 8, 2010) India's government introduced a bill to parliament on Monday that proposes to reserve one-third of the legislature's seats for women, angering socialist lawmakers. The bill has faced strong opposition since it was first proposed more than a decade ago, with many political leaders worried that their male-dominated parties would lose seats under a female quota system. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government, which was re-elected last year, is confident it has enough support this time and presented the bill to parliament on March 8^th International Women's Day. The bill is an attempt to correct some of the historical mistreatment of women in the South Asian country. Most Indian women receive far less education than men and are weighed down by illiteracy, poverty and low social status. On Monday, a U.N. report said 96 million women in Asia have “disappeared” because of a gender gap that deprives them of access to health care and good nutrition, including about 43 million in China and India. Sex-selective abortions were also blamed. Two reports released on Monday by Human Rights Watch present convincing and terrible facts that not only show rape and abuse of women are still rampant worldwide, but that judges and courts are still gender-biased, even in Europe. The rights watchdog particularly singled out Cambodia and Finland for having a dismal track record when it comes to rape, to sexual violence in general and the many attempts to keep them out of the spotlight.
Meanwhile several events marked the 100th International Women's Day in India on Monday, with Indian president Pratibha Patil stating that Indian women will continue to be a major factor in the nation’s progress and inclusive growth. In a brief message for the March 8 observance President Patil said: "Indian women as part of this epoch making movement have played an exemplary role and will continue to be a major determinant of our future progress and inclusive growth," she added. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has also stressed on the need for women empowerment for the progress of the country. President Pratibha Patil conferred the Stree Shakti Awards to women for their outstanding and exceptional work in field of women empowerment. The Rajasthan Government allowed women to travel free in all categories of state roadways buses on Monday. In a bid to encourage women to join the police force, the Mumbai Police will elevate a woman police inspector to the rank of senior inspector and make her the head of a police station.